


Clocks Move Forward

by moonace



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV 2020)
Genre: Blood, Bruises, Cancer, Coming Out, Confrontation, Cussing, Death, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Funeral, Homelessness, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Panic Attack Mention, Police, They Both Die at the End AU, This is a tragedy, Tragedy/Comedy, Trigger warnings:, coma mention, guys i cant stress this enough, injuries, physical fight, suffocating mention, there is a lot of death and talk of death, unemployment
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-16 01:27:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29568180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonace/pseuds/moonace
Summary: Julie Molina, Luke Patterson, Alex Mercer, Reggie Peters, and Willie Ikeda live in a world where a company, Death-Cast, knows the exact date of death for every person on earth. When they all get the call telling them that they are going to die today, their End Days aren't exactly what they planned. But, then, neither is dying.
Relationships: Alex Mercer & Julie Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie Peters & Willie, Alex Mercer & Luke Patterson & Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms), Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Bobby | Trevor Wilson & Alex Mercer & Luke Patterson & Reggie Peters, Carlos Molina & Reggie Peters, Flynn & Julie Molina, Flynn/Carrie Wilson, Julie Molina/Luke Patterson, Ray Molina & Reggie Peters, Tia Victoria/Ms. Harrison
Comments: 18
Kudos: 30





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is an au that takes place in the same universe as the book They Both Die At The End by Adam Silvera.
> 
> **Please read the tags for trigger warnings**
> 
> I will be updating them with every chapter so make sure you keep checking them.

**Julie 12:24 am**

Julie stares at the big black line cutting across her shoe. She had been sitting on her bed doodling when her phone rang, startling her and making her jerk the marker. It wasn’t the fact that someone was calling her in the middle of the night that made her jump; it was the ringtone. It was the same ringtone that, up until a few months ago, would send her into a panic attack, but now only haunted her dreams. In fact, she had thought she was dreaming when the sound first rang out in the quiet of her room. She isn’t that lucky. 

Julie knows exactly who is on the other end- their distinct ringtone makes sure of that. It’s Death-Cast, calling to tell her she will die today. 

Pulling her phone out from under her pillow where she had tossed it to muffle the sound, Julie shakily answers. 

“...Hello?” comes a woman’s voice. The herald (that’s what the Death-Cast employees are called, though Julie’s not sure why) sounds concerned. 

“Yes, I’m here, sorry.”

“Is this Eli Kepler?”

Julie feels a rush of relief. They called the wrong person! She’s gonna be ok, though she silently curses Death-Cast for scaring her like that. “No,” she says with probably a little too much enthusiasm, “you have the wrong number.”

“Oh gosh, I’m so sorry!” the woman replies. “Eli was the name of the person I just got off the phone with. Are you Julie Molina?”

Julie’s heart doesn’t just drop, it’s spiked into the ground with zero regard for its safety. Her tongue is numb. “Y-yes. I’m Julie.”

“Julie, I regret to inform you that sometime in the next twenty-four hours you’ll be meeting an untimely death. While there isn’t anything I can do to suspend that, you still have a chance to live.”

Julie stays motionless during the whole phone call. She should probably be listening, but she knows the basics. She remembers it clearly from her mom’s phone call almost a year ago. 

They hadn’t been expecting it. They had known about the cancer, but it was supposed to have been in remission. Her mom hadn’t had any bucket list things she wanted to do except for planting dahlias in the front yard. She had wanted to try to have a normal day, to go about things as if nothing had changed. But it had changed. Julie had respected her mom’s wishes for her End Day, but it had all seemed too fake, too forced. That’s not what Julie wants for her End Day.

“On behalf of Death-Cast, we are sorry for the loss of you. Live this day to the fullest.”

When she hangs up the phone, Julie has come to a decision. She’s keeping her End Day a secret. 

**Luke 12:57 am**

Luke hadn’t meant for the confrontation to get physical. Well, ok, he _had_ planned to punch him, but only once! But Bobby deserved it. 

Two years ago, when he had turned 18, Bobby had left their foster home to pursue a musical career. What Luke and the other boys hadn’t expected was that Bobby would steal Sunset Curve’s songs, _their songs_ , and pass them off as his own without so much as a single mention of them. 

The boys had been tracking their ex-bandmate down for over a year, a task which had proved very difficult given his fame and name change. But they had finally gotten word of where he would be. Luke, Alex, and Reggie had been waiting out back of his gig for almost two hours when he had finally emerged, alone. 

And Luke really had planned on just one punch and a few choice words. But then Bobby went and brought up his mom. 

“I didn’t take _all_ your songs,” Bobby mutters, rubbing his jaw where Luke had hit. “You don’t win Grammys with songs about comatose moms.”

Before Luke can be rational and stop himself, he lunges at Bobby, tackling him to the ground. Rage courses through his veins as he starts beating on him. He can hear Reggie screaming for him to stop, but he’s so blinded by anger that he keeps on hitting. Then Alex’s arms are wrapping around him from behind. Luke tries to fight Alex’s grip on him, but he was always the stronger of the three boys. That doesn’t stop Luke from flailing his arms at Bobby and spewing out a string of cuss words. 

Until his phone rings. Everyone freezes. 

They all know what that ringtone means– you’d have to be living under a rock not to. 

Luke’s breath catches in his throat when Alex’s phone starts to go off. The grip around his chest tightens. He can’t see Alex’s face, but he can picture the fear on it. 

When Reggie’s phone begins to ring, Luke feels his heart sink six feet below his feet. All eyes turn expectantly to Bobby, but his phone stays silent. 

Alex answers his first, nearly dropping Luke in the process. “Hello?” he answers hurriedly. “Yes.” His chest rises and falls quickly as he listens to the person on the other end of the phone. “Ok,” he breathes after a minute, then hangs up. He doesn’t stop staring at his phone, eyes filled with panic. 

Reggie answers his next and looks like he’s on the verge of puking the entire time. And then he hangs up. And then he pukes. 

Luke is the only one left. He stares at his phone, feeling all of the eyes on him. Panic starts to set in until his eyes flicker to Bobby, who is still lying on the ground with a busted lip and bloody nose, and rage bubbles up from his chest. Luke answers the phone. “Fuck you.” He jabs the “end call” button so hard he’s surprised his finger doesn’t go straight through the screen.

“Luke–”

“What?” he snaps, and regrets it immediately when he sees Alex flinch away from him. 

“Wha...” He swallows hard. “What do we do?”

Luke has no answer. What is he supposed to say? They just got told that they are all going to die today, at the ripe old age of seventeen; there’s no easy way to handle that. He just gives his boys a solemn look and shrugs. 

While Luke has his back to him, Bobby takes the opportunity to run. The boys don’t chase after him, and none of them notice the tears in his eyes.

**Willie 1:11 am**

1am is Willie’s favorite time of... well, of all time. Something about it makes the whole world seem frozen in place, like he and his board are the only things moving. The brisk wind whipping his face is the only company he needs. It’s dark and quiet and peaceful. It makes thinking easier. Willie always has a million little thoughts running through his head with no room to run free. But at one in the morning there is nothing holding them back. Plus, there aren’t really any cars at night. 

Willie can skate without worry at 1am. 

At least he could until worry called him on the phone. 

The sound was so jarring against the silence on the street that it made Willie lose his balance, almost face planting in the middle of a crosswalk. He regained his composure, took a deep breath, and answered the phone. “Hello?”

“Hello. Is this William… I-keh-duh?”

“Oh, it’s Ih-kee-da actually.” He’s used to people mispronouncing his last name. 

“My apologies. William Ikeda, I regret to inform you that sometime in the next twenty-three hours you’ll be meeting an untimely death. While there isn’t anything I can do to suspend that, you still have a chance to live.”

Willie nods along as the man speaks. When the spiel is over, he takes another deep breath. “Ok, thank you for letting me know.”

The man goes quiet, and for a moment Willie thinks he might have hung up. “I beg your pardon?” he asks carefully.

“Um… I said thanks?” 

“...Sir, are you alright?”

Now it’s Willie’s turn to be confused. “Yeah. Why?”

“It’s just,” the man pauses like he’s searching for the right way to say it, “you seem so calm.”

Willie doesn’t feel very calm, but he was always good at bottling up his emotions. “Would you rather me be panicked?” He doesn’t have any sarcasm in his voice.

“Well, no. Most people are though– that, or angry. I got off the phone with someone earlier who just screamed ‘F you’ and hung up.”

Willie makes a little hum of sympathy. “I guess shock affects everyone differently.” He shrugged even though he knew the man couldn’t see it. “Plus it helps a little to know I have some friendly faces waiting for me on the other side.”

The phone goes quiet again.

Willie starts to speak at the same time as the man. “What’s your name–” 

“I have to go–”

“Oh, sorry,” Willie said, “you go first.” 

“Um, I have to go. I have other calls to make tonight, sorry.”

“Right, course, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hold you up.” Willie feels a little silly for trying to make conversation with his herald.

“Don’t worry about it.” The man inhales loud enough that Willie can hear it through the phone, before delivering the well known corporate line. “On behalf of Death-Cast, we are sorry for the loss of you. Live this day to the fullest.” Then he hangs up.

Willie looks around at the empty street. He’s not sure he likes 1am all that much.


	2. Chapter 2

**Reggie 1:25 am**

Reggie has been in the foster system since he was seven, bouncing around different houses until he was twelve. He has lived with thirteen different foster parents, but Ms. Harrison is by far his favorite. When Alex joined their little family at fourteen, and Luke not long after, Reggie loved it even more. Bobby had only been there for a year, but they still considered him part of the family. Which is why it had hurt so much when he went behind their backs and stole their music.

Luke still shouldn’t have punched Bobby. He hadn’t told Reggie and Alex about that part of the plan, probably because he knew they would have stopped him. Reggie couldn’t understand why Luke had snapped like that. He had never seen his friend that angry before, and it had kinda scared him. He isn’t gonna bring it up though, and it seems like the other two aren’t either. In fact, the whole walk home, no one has said a word. 

As they make their way up the steps of the porch, Luke grabs Alex’s wrist before he can open the door. 

“Um,” Luke keeps his head bowed, eyes glancing up and down from the boys to the floor, “before we go in, I just want to say… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to–”

“Hey,” Alex places a hand on his shoulder, and Luke finally lifts his gaze. “We know.”

Luke gives a half smile, takes a deep breath, and opens the door. 

The boys enter quietly, tip-toeing into the house. As soon as the door clicks shut behind them, light floods the room, momentarily blinding them.

“How many times have I told you to let me know when you are going out?”

“Ms. Harrison–” Alex starts. 

“How. Many. Times?”

“Two?” Reggie offers.

Ms. Harrison inhales deeply. “Six times. I have told you six times. I do not care what time it is. I don’t even care what you are doing, so long as it’s not illegal.” Luke shuffles uncomfortably. “All I ask is that you tell me when you’re leaving. And have you ever done that? No.” She pinches the bridge of her nose. “Now, please tell what it is you were doing that was so pressing you couldn’t call.” She punctuates her sentence by placing her hands on her hips. 

The three boys desperately avoid their foster mom’s scolding gaze. Reggie fiddles with the sleeve of the flannel tied around his waist–a nervous habit he picked up when he first got placed in the system. He looks over at Alex, trying to read his thoughts; based on his shaking hands he guesses Alex won’t be the one breaking the bad news. Reggie’s heart hurts when he shifts his gaze to Luke. All the color has drained from his friend’s face. The last time he saw Luke this vulnerable was when he had come through Ms. Harrison’s door for the first time nearly four years ago. It seems like Reggie is going to have to be the one to tell the woman who cares about them most in the world that they are dying. 

Just as Reggie opens his mouth, however, Luke blurts out, “Death-Cast called us.”

It’s not exactly how he would’ve handled, but it works. 

Ms. Harrison stands motionless, like her brain is lagging. Then a look of devastation creeps onto her face, and her hand flies to her mouth. She looks like she is about to fall over, so Reggie rushes forward and grabs her arm, helping her to the couch. Luke has a look of guilt on his face.

“If…” Ms. Harrison takes a shaky breath, “if this is some kind of joke, it’s not funny.”

“I wish it was a joke.” Alex moves across the room, starting his usual anxious pacing in front of the couch. 

“I’m sorry,” Reggie whispers from beside her on the couch. 

Ms. Harrison places a hand over Reggie’s. “Oh, baby, no. It’s not your fault. None of this is your fault. Please don’t apologize.”

“Sorry, I mean– I didn’t, uh–” 

She quiets him with a hand on his cheek. He closes his eyes and sighs; Reggie is so tired. 

“Um...” All eyes fall on Luke as he finally speaks up. “I, uh… I was hoping we could do a quick little funeral here. Before we go live our End Day. Nothing special; just the four of us saying a few words, sharing memories, you know?”

It still baffles Reggie that they live in a world where people can attend their own funerals. He wonders what his mom’s would’ve been like if Death-Cast had been around then. He nods in agreement, and Alex does too.

“That sounds nice, Luke.” Ms. Harrison stands up, wiping her face of the tears that have fallen. “Let me get some proper clothes on.”

A few minutes later, everyone is gathered in the living room, an uncomfortable silence hanging in the air. No one knows how to start.

Eventually Ms. Harrison clears her throat. “I can start then. People thought I was crazy when I told them I was taking in three teenage boys, but becoming your foster mother was the best decision I ever made. You three have helped me more in more ways than I can count. I have loved you boys, even when you bought a hamster and it hid it in your rooms for a month until it escaped and ran all over the house,” she glances at Reggie, who blushes and tries to stop his grin. 

“Or when you tried to cut and dye your hair all by yourself and ended up with a pink buzz cut that you hid with a hat for almost six months.” Alex buries his face in his hands, shaking his head in embarrassment. 

“Or,” Luke sucks his teeth as he waits for his humiliation, “when you jumped off the roof to take a picture for an album cover and had enough dumb luck to only break the guitar’s neck. Although the way you were crying, you would’ve assumed it had been your own neck that had broken.” 

That gets a snicker out of Reggie, but Luke puts his hand to his chest, scoffing in mock offense. “I know I’ll never be your mother, but you will always be my children.” 

The boys surround Ms. Harrison in a hug as tears stream down her face. They whisper reassurance to her, and after a moment, she breaks up the embrace. 

“Alright, alright, that’s enough. Let’s move on. Who’s next?” 

“Guess I’ll get this over with.” Alex takes off his hat and runs a hand through his hair, letting it flop down onto his forehead, before shoving his hands into his pockets. “You guys are my family, there’s no questioning that. Ms. Harrison, you said you’ll never be my mother, and sure, you may not have raised me, but you’re the only mom who’s ever loved me for me, and that’s all that matters.”

Ms. Harrison sniffles, and Alex smiles softly.

“Luke, Reggie.” He turns towards the boys. “God, where do I even start. You’ve helped me learn to be proud of who I am when I thought no one would ever accept me. You’re like the brothers I never had, and I…” He gets choked up. “I– Reggie if you say something about me being the emotional one right now, I swear.”

They all chuckle, and tears start to well in Alex’s eyes.

“I just… I love you idiots so much.” He wipes the tears from his eyes. “Give me a hug you morons!” He forces a laugh.

Luke and Reggie nearly tackle Alex in a hug. He squeezes the two tightly, then pushes them off. “Okay, now get off me.”

“This is why we didn’t try to hug you,” Reggie says in a sing-songy tone.

“I’ll go next.” Luke bounces on the balls of his feet. “Ms. Harrison, you’re an angel, and I don’t have the words to fully capture how much I want to thank you for taking me in.” Then he turns to Alex and Reggie. “Boys, having you by side, not just as my band, but as my family, has changed my life. Making music with you guys has been the best experience of my life. I couldn’t ask for a better band.” Luke slings his arms around their shoulders and leans his head against Reggie’s. “I love you guys.”

Reggie blushes and is really glad Luke can’t see his face right now. “My turn.” He shifts out from under Luke’s arm. “I’ve lived with a lot of people, in a lot of houses, but this is the only one that’s felt like home because you guys never gave up on me. You’re the only family I've ever had. Which is why I want y’all to know,” he takes a deep breath, “I’m bi.”

“That’s awesome, Reg!”

Luke and Alex smile brightly, and Ms. Harrison pulls Reggie to her side, kissing the top of his head. 

“I’m so proud of you,” she whispers into his hair. 

Reggie knew he would get a positive response from everyone, but he still felt a huge wave of relief wash over him. 

“How long have you known?” Alex asks. 

Reggie scratches his head and looks away. “Uhhh... a while, heh. Since I was fifteen.”

Luke furrows his eyebrows in confusion. “Why’d you wait so long to tell us? You know we all support you.” 

Reggie feels a warmth spread across his face, and his heartbeat quickens. “It’s, uh... it’s stupid, but I was scared because, well…” He looks Luke in the eyes, and he feels like his heart is going to explode. Maybe this is how Reggie dies, telling the boy he’s had a crush on since the day he met him that he loves him. “Luke I–”

His voice is drowned out by someone banging violently on the door. 

“Who knocks on someone’s door that loud at two in the morning? They're gonna wake the whole neighborhood.” Ms. Harrison walks out to go open the door. From the other room they hear her exclaim, “Bobby!?” 

Bobby burst around the corner into the living room, bruised but no longer bloody. 

Reggie can see an angry fire light in Luke’s eyes. He tries to step towards Bobby, but Alex puts an arm in front of him and shakes his head. Luke stands down. 

“What are you doing here?” Alex shoots at Bobby.

Before he can answer, Ms. Harrison rushes back into the room. She hands him an ice pack and starts inspecting his injuries. “What happened? Who did this to you?” 

“Uh...” Bobby’s eyes flick to Luke briefly, but it was long enough for Ms. Harrison to notice. 

She whips around. “Lukas Andrew Patterson, what the hell were you thinking?” 

Luke stares at the floor. 

“It’s a long story,” Bobby interjects. “But I deserved it,” he adds quietly. 

The boys’ heads snap to Bobby, bafflement etched on their faces. 

He lowers the ice pack to look at them fully. “After I moved out, I had a rough time. I couldn’t find a job, I lost my apartment, and I was running out of money for food. So when I finally caught a producer’s eye, I did something beyond stupid. I was playing some Sunset Curve songs on the beach, didn’t even think anyone was listening, but this guy came up to me, said he wanted to produce my music, so I jumped on the chance. I showed him some of my own songs, but he only wanted yours.” He gestures at Luke. “He made me sign some absurdly strict contract that said I had to change my name, claim I wrote the songs myself, and block you guys on everything–basically cut you out of my life.” Bobby rubs his face and winces when he bumps his nose. “I didn’t read the whole thing when I signed, but even if I had, the guy hid a bunch of bullshit conditions in it that I wouldn’t have noticed. I never should’ve signed, but I was just _so_ desperate.”

Everyone quietly processes the story for a moment. 

Then Luke speaks up. “You could’ve come back here. You know Ms. Harrison would’ve taken you back in.”

“In a heartbeat,” she adds. 

Bobby nods. “I know. I just didn’t want to be more of a burden then I already had been.”

“You were _never_ a burden.” Ms. Harrison places a hand on his arm, and he gives her a small smile. “But I’m not gonna lie, Bobby, I’m very disappointed in you. You know how much Luke’s music means to him, and stealing his songs is a low I never thought you would drop to.” She points a reprimanding finger at Luke. “That still doesn’t give you the right to beat him up, and under normal circumstances you would be having a very serious conversation about this.”

The look on Luke’s face is one he hasn’t seen on him in a very long time. Regret.

“That’s not why he beat me up.”

“What?” Ms. Harrison, Alex and Reggie question collectively.

“I-“ Despite all the other hard truths he’s said, it seems this is the thing Bobby is having the hardest time admitting. “I made a horrible comment about…”

_Oh._

It makes sense now why Luke had reacted like he did. Bobby had insulted the only thing that can make Luke angrier than music–his mom. 

The tension in the room is suffocating. Finally Bobby breaks it. 

“Shit, I almost forgot why I came here!” He directs his attention to the boys. “After you guys left, I went back inside, and my producer was furious. He called the cops on you. I begged him not to, but he wouldn’t listen. You guys can’t stay here.”

Luke, Alex, and Reggie look at each other, panic clear in all of their faces. 

“It’ll be fine! We can explain the situation to the police, they’ll understand. I’ll call Victoria because she’ll want to see you all one more time, and then you boys can go make the best of the day.”

“No.” Bobby turns to Ms. Harrison. “Caleb is extremely powerful; he has influence everywhere. He won’t stop until the three of them are arrested. Also, who’s Victoria?”

“Just because I’m a mom, doesn’t mean I can’t date.”

“Wait.” Alex steps forward. “So you’re saying our only two options are to hide from the police or spend our End Day in jail?”

Bobby nods glumly. 

“This is bullshit!” Luke screams, making Reggie flinch. He places a hand on his shoulder apologetically, and Reggie immediately relaxes under his touch.

“Here.” Bobby takes out his wallet and shoves all the money in it into Luke’s hands. “I wish I could do more. This is all my fault, I’m sorry.” 

Luke lunges forward and wraps Bobby in a hug, the other boys following suit. “I forgive you.”

The sound of sirens becomes clear, and the room flashes red and blue. 

“Police, open up.” 

“Go, I’ll try to hold them off!” Bobby pushes them away as the door swings open. They run for the back door. Reggie glances backward in time to see Bobby throw a left hook, clocking a cop square in the jaw. 

The three boys stand in the backyard, unsure of what to do, but they don’t have long to think. They can hear the sound of officers coming around the side of the house. 

“Scatter!” Luke shouts. 

Reggie runs through the yard and scrambles over the chain-link fence. His back pocket gets caught on the top, and he falls hard on his knees. Recovering quickly, he gets to his feet and keeps running. He doesn’t see which direction Luke and Alex go, but he hopes they got away safe.


	3. Chapter 3

**Julie 3:01 am**

Julie taps the end of the pen against her head. There isn’t much on her list, but she feels like she’s missing something important. She reads it over again.

_Hang with Flynn  
Sing again  
Visit mom_

She glances around her room for inspiration, and her eyes fall on the shelf beside her bed. Carefully, she walks over and picks up the small, decorated chest, carrying it back to her bed. Julie stares at her dream box. When she was little it was filled with drawings of butterflies and glitter and impossible futures. As she got older, doodles were replaced with lyrics and fantasies with very real crushes. Julie hadn’t opened it since… well, now is as good a time as ever. 

Taking a steadying breath, Julie lifts the lid. The hinges are stiff from sitting unused for almost a year. She starts to sort through the papers, smiling fondly at the memories. But her breath catches in her throat when she gets to the very last page. 

Her mom’s handwriting is the first thing to catch her eye. Except it’s not just her mom’s handwriting, Julie’s loopy L’s are mixed in there as well. She had forgotten all about this song. They had started writing it together after her mom had been diagnosed, but when she started getting worse, it had been tucked away in the dream box, unfinished. 

Julie picks up the pen and scribbles the final task on her list.

_Finish our song_

She flips her notebook shut and leans back. Now what? Even if her list isn’t that long, she still can’t spend the day cooped up in the room. Her dad and Carlos are still asleep, and waking them up would require telling them that she’s dying today, which she _does not want to do_. But she can’t spend the day alone, not just because it's the middle of the night and she’s a sixteen year old girl. Alone is a very bad way to spend your End Day. 

Luckily, much like everything nowadays, there’s an app for that. Last Friend is sort of like a dating app but for people who are looking for someone to spend their final day with. She downloads the app and opens it up. A black screen pops up with two options:

_*Dying today  
*Not dying today_

She clicks the first one, and a message fades in.

_We here at Last Friend Inc. are collectively sorry for this loss of you. Our deepest sympathies extend to those who love you and those who will never meet you. We hope you find a new friend of value to spend your final hours with today. Please fill out the profile for the best results._

After she fills out the profile, she looks over it.

_**Name:** Julie Molina  
 **Age:** 16  
 **Gender:** Female  
 **Height:** 5’4”  
 **Weight:** 119 lbs  
 **Ethnicity:** Puerto Rican  
 **Orientation:** Bisexual  
 **Job:** None  
 **Interests:** Singing, writing songs, playing piano, drawing  
 **Favorite Movies/TV Shows/Books/Music:** High School Musical, 10 Things I Hate About You, Powerpuff Girls, David Bowie, P!TD, Alicia Keys, Spice Girls, Red Hot Chili Peppers  
 **Who You Were In Life:** Someone who tried to put kindness in the world whenever I could  
 **Bucket List:** See my best friend, sing for someone, and visit my mom  
 **Final Thoughts:** I know how hard an End Day is for the people you love, and I don’t want to put the people I love through that. But I also don’t want to be alone today._

Is this really her? Can you summarize a person in just a few bullet points? Julie shrugs. She supposes that’s something for Lifers to worry about; a Phantom like herself doesn’t have time for that kind of contemplation. She uploads a photo, presses submit, and starts scrolling through matches.

**Willie 3:09 am**

To put it bluntly, Willie has nobody. No family. No friends. Just him. Sure, he has a few coworkers who will miss him when he’s gone, but in a few months he’ll just become “that poor guy I used to work with.” 

It never really bothered Willie that much before. Even when his family had been alive, despite how big it was, he had always kept to himself. He found that he had trouble understanding people a lot of the time. That used to frustrate him, until he was able to put a name to it. But even after Willie learned he had ADHD, he still liked his own company the best. Apparently it took finding out he was gonna die for him to realize alone isn’t always the best way to be. That revelation came a little too late. 

Willie shrugs for no one to see and hops on his board. He may be all by himself on his End Day, but that’s not gonna stop him from enjoying it. He can skate all day without a single responsibility. No working graveyard shifts or worrying about rent. Today is all about freedom!

As he rounds the corner onto Hollywood Boulevard, Willie sees a boy about his age running into the street. The blond is looking over his shoulder as he dashes into the middle of the road, oblivious to the speeding car coming straight at him. Willie doesn’t hesitate. He doesn’t even think about the fact that he is going to die today and saving this kid might just be how he goes. Willie sprints at him, leaving his skateboard abandoned on the sidewalk.

**Luke 3:17**

Luke finally stops running, resting by a dimly lit convenience store. Probably not the safest place to stop given what he knows about today, but he needs to catch his breath someplace out of sight of the street. 

He leans against the wall, lightly banging his head against the bricks. Why was the universe punishing them like this? Luke could understand why this would be happening to him, but Reggie and Alex don’t deserve this. Luke’s life has been full of mistakes– it makes sense that he would have a bunch of bad karma coming to bite him in the ass. From running away from home to beating up Bobby and getting them into this whole mess in the first place, he just can’t seem to do anything right. 

“Fuck!” Luke screams into the night sky. He turns and kicks the wall, forgetting that kicking bricks full force isn’t the best idea. “Shit!” He winces as he grabs his foot, hopping on the other leg to keep balanced. "Damn it." But all the fight has gone out of his voice, and he sinks to the ground, his back against the wall. 

How could he be so stupid? If he had just kept his anger under control none of this would be happening. They should be together, living a lifetime in a day. Instead Luke, Reggie and Alex are scattered across LA, hiding from the police. And it’s all his stupid fault. 

_Reggie and Alex!_

Luke quickly pulls his phone out and calls Reggie. “Come on come on come on.” It rings several times, but no one picks up. He tries Alex, but it goes straight to voicemail. That’s not a great sign. 

_That sign looks promising, however_ , he thinks as he sees the billboard across from the store. It’s an advertisement for an app, Last Friends. Luke remembers hearing about it before– it’s like a Tinder, but for poor suckers who are alone on their End Day. 

_Poor suckers like me, apparently_. 

He downloads the app and starts to set up his profile. Luke feels like he’s abandoning his boys like this, but it's too dangerous to be looking for Alex and Reggie right now, and he is not about to spend his last day on Earth alone.

**Author's Note:**

> Huge thank you to the several people who helped me with this!! Scout, Chloe, Jon, Pip, Agnes, probably some other people who I'm blanking on rn, and just everyone in the jatp 18+ discord for encouraging me- I couldn't have done y'all and I love you all so much! _kithes for all of you_
> 
> This is my first multi chap so I really hope you all like it! 
> 
> Please please let me know what you think!<3


End file.
